Colossal statue of King Menkaura (Mycerinus) Travertine (Egyptian alabaster), 2490–2472 B.C.E. Size: 243.8 x 115.6 x 83.8 cm (96 x 45 1/2 x 33 in.) Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition 1909, MFA #09.204

BIG statue with big shoulders! He's BIG, all right, with a height of nearly 2.35 meters (8 feet)! "Menkaura (called Mycerinus by the Greeks) built the third and smallest pyramid at Giza. This statue, found in a temple at its base, is the largest sculpture known from Egypt's Old Kingdom." (From info card) Why is the head seeming too small for the shoulders? By exaggerating the effects of perspective, did the sculptor hope to make the ruler seem even more powerful?

Photo of fragments of colossal statue of Menkaure (Mycerinus) with Mary Reisner for scale, Harvard camp, Harvard University–MFA Expedition, 1907, under the direction of the archaeologist George Reisner. "This statue was broken up in antiquity, and archaeologists found the head and knees in different rooms. The remainder of the statue is a plaster" restoration by Joseph Lindon Smith in 1935.

All photos ©Joan Ann Lansberry, 2014